The Wrong King

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
November 23, 2025
Proper 29 – Christ the King, C
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 46
Luke 23:33-43

Jesus was killed by the Roman Empire as a heretic and potential insurrectionist. He had no political power and rejected political power when it was offered to him, both by Satan in his temptations in the wilderness and by Jesus’ followers when they wanted to make him king. He desired no earthly political power and taught no earthly political power for his followers. “You will be handed over to [the authorities],” he said, not you will become the authorities to deal out punishment and death to others. 

Jesus’ church, therefore, remained a religious movement without great earthly authority for over 300 years. The church did not rule over others with political or governmental power. Rather, any authority or influence the church had came from the relationships of love and service they gave to others. 

Jesus was the king of the church, and people followed his rule by living his teachings. Love one another. Pray for your enemies. Do not return anyone evil for evil. If you have more than you need, share generously with others. Live lives of prayer, service, and above all, love. That also includes having fun, enjoying life, working, being with friends and family. Love God, love people, and let everything else flow from that. However imperfectly Jesus’ followers lived that life of love, and they did live that way imperfectly, such is the church with Jesus as king. Love God, love people, and let everything else flow from that.

Then, in the year 380, Emperor Theodosius I made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire. At that point, I would argue that the Emperor of Rome usurped Jesus’ role as king of the Church, at least in an earthly sense. At that point, the Church had political power and authority to force others to follow its desires. 

War, for example, was not the way of Jesus, but once the Church and the Empire were united, when Empire when to war, the Church went to war. Rather than love and pray for one’s enemies, the church began killing their enemies at the point of a sword. 

Even after the fall of the Roman Empire the Church was often closely tied to the government in many nations with great political power and authority. It seems like the Church got used to ruling, and the power of the church remained tied to the power of the State.

When Christopher Columbus came the Bahamas, he claimed the land for Spain, and he decided to convert the people to Christianity. The conversions didn’t really take all that well, and over the decades, the King of Spain ordered forced conversions, and the Church complied. Believe in Jesus or be tortured and killed. That’s what the church looked like with an earthly king as its head: forcing people to believe in Jesus, destroying their religious sites, enslaving people, and killing those who resisted. 

That’s a far cry from love God, love people, and let everything else flow from that. Forced conversions are not what God intended for us. Coerced conversions, making people terrified of what will happen to them if they don’t believe in Jesus, is not what God intended for us. Offering our belief to others that they may find the healing that we have found, that is what God intends.

Be a light, Jesus taught us. A light attracts people in the darkness. The light of a loving God amidst the darkness of hatred. The light of taking care of one another amidst the darkness of indifference. The light of hope amidst the darkness of despair.  

Bringing light into darkness is kinda God’s deal. In the beginning, when the earth was nothing but a formless void, and darkness reigned everywhere, God said, “Let there be light,” and light shined into the darkness.

When God made humanity, God gave us some of God’s own power so that we could rule over creation and care for this wonderful earth. We’ve not always done a particularly good job of that, but we see God continuing to love us, continuing to walk with us, continuing to shine light into the darkness.

When God formed the people of Israel, God made them to be a light to the nations. Love God and love people, God taught. Be a light to others by how you live. If you loan someone money, don’t charge interest. Use what you have to help out someone in need, and trust that they’ll do the same if things are reversed. If you really want to please God, take care of the poor and needy among you. Care for the orphans and widows. If you’re really angry with someone, leave the vengeance to God, trusting God’s justice, even when it doesn’t happen on earth.

The people of Israel didn’t always follow God’s ways, and eventually they even asked for a king to lead them like the other nations. God warned them that the king would take all of the best of what everyone had for himself. The king would take their sons to fight in his wars and his daughters to serve him in his palace, and the people said, “Sounds great.” 

So, the people rejected God as their king and decided to have an earthly king instead. It didn’t work out all that well, as you might imagine, but God loved the people of Israel enough to let them make that mistake. Then God continued striving with the people of Israel so that despite all of their very human screw ups, they could continue to be a light to the nations to this day.

When Jesus founded the Church, he called his disciples a light to shine in the darkness for all. “Love one another as I have loved you,” he told them. That is the light he wanted his disciples to shine, love for one another. Jesus wanted his disciples to attract others to them by loving one another, by being light. 

Now, the church has screwed up plenty over the centuries, and through it all, Jesus has stuck with us. When the Church even went so far as to reject Jesus as king, and began relying on the power of the Roman Empire instead, things went pretty badly, and Jesus continued to strive with the church. Jesus continued loving humanity. Jesus continued shining as a light for us to turn to when darkness overcame us.

I’d love to say that the church no longer rejects Jesus as king, but we know that’s not true. Even without the tyranny of the Roman Empire or the genocidal expansion of colonialism, there are plenty of ways that pockets of the modern Church still reject Jesus as king. Think of the Ku Klux Klan, which claimed Christianity as their faith, and yet their king was not Jesus but themselves and fear of being displaced or devalued. 

Think of Christian groups who use the government to try to force Christianity on others, rather than trying to attract others simply by being the light of love. They may think of Jesus as their king, but Jesus didn’t use a government or anything else to force his beliefs on anybody. 

Think about Christian groups who are constantly threatening people with eternal torture if they don’t believe in Jesus. Conversions based on those threats aren’t forced conversions, but they are coerced conversions with a foundation of fear, rather than a foundation of Jesus. Fear is king in such pockets of Christianity with Jesus serving to alleviate that fear.

Forcing people to believe, scaring people into believing, using Jesus as a weapon to achieve some victory or another: pockets of the church that do these kinds of things have the wrong king in charge. 

Jesus didn’t force anything on anyone. When push came to shove, he let himself be killed, rather than rise up in revolt against Rome. Jesus’ way was to let Rome do their horrible, oppressive, imperial stuff, and he and his disciples were going to be the church. In the darkness of Empire and authoritarianism, Jesus was king by living the light of love. Actually, Jesus lived the lights of faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of those lights was love. 

That light of Jesus’ love still shines in the darkness. The great love that God has for us shines in the darkness, and our faith and hope, the light that shines in the darkness, is ultimately the great light of love. 

He's Not the One We're Fighting For

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
November 24, 2024
Christ the King (Proper 29)
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Psalm 93
John 18:33-37

So, in the HBO television series, A Game of Thrones, and in the books from which the TV show came, all of the kings of all the different nations pretty much had one thing in common. They all wanted more land, to feel more powerful and more secure, and they were all more than happy to sacrifice the lives of countless other people to get them than land. Hundreds of thousands of people marching off to war to die on some battlefield so their king could have more.

Currently, in real life, we have Vladimir Putin in Russia doing the same thing. Hundreds of thousands of Russian troops have died so that Vladimir Putin could get more land and feel more powerful and secure. Just like the kings of fiction and kings throughout history, hundreds of thousands of people are marching off to war to die on some battlefield so their king can have more. By whatever name they are called, the kings and rulers of nations (including our own) throughout the world and throughout history have sent others to die for their cause.

That’s kinda what kings tend to do.

So, when Jesus said, “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Judeans,” he really meant it. If I were a king like you, Jesus was saying to Pilate, then I would have commanded my troops to come and die for me, just like you would. I would have hundreds of thousands be slaughtered in battle just so that I could get my way, if were a king like you, Pilate, if my kingdom were of this world, but as it is, “my kingdom is not from this world.”

Jesus isn’t a king like earthly kings and rulers. Rather than send other people to die for his cause, Jesus chose to die himself for our cause: the cause of love, of unity with God and unity with each other.

Jesus didn’t want his followers to take up weapons to fight for him 2000 years ago. He didn’t want his followers to take up weapons to fight for him during the crusades. Jesus didn’t want his followers to take up weapons and kill native Americans who wouldn’t convert to Christianity. Now, in this world and in this time, Jesus still doesn’t want his followers to take up weapons to fight for him. That just ain’t the kind of king Jesus is, because Jesus’ kingdom ain’t of this world.

See, kingdoms of this world are small and limited. Kingdoms of this world can only reach as far as people are willing to fight and kill for them. If a king claims land or some territory as his own, but there’s no one there to force people to serve the king, then it really isn’t the king’s territory, is it? Kingdoms of this world are defined by territory and ruled by force, by people willing to kill and die so the king can keep his land.

That goes from Russia invading Ukraine to businesses fighting for greater market share, to one gang trying to take territory from another. Heck, even churches fight one another over people and power, each trying to get more people and more money so their community and version of the Gospel can win over others’. We don’t tend to kill each other in the church over fights for land and people, but we have in the past.

Small and limited kingdoms fighting each other over territory, whether land, people, money, or power, kingdoms of this world use various kinds of violence to force their way in the world.

Jesus’ kingdom is a bit different, because Jesus’ kingdom is neither defined by territory nor ruled by force.

Jesus’ kingdom can be anywhere and everywhere, and Jesus’ kingdom is both defined by and ruled by love. “To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” We serve Jesus by loving one another. As we’re told in Matthew 25, we don’t need to know it is Jesus we are serving. We don’t even need to believe in Jesus to serve him. In Matthew 25, people are thanked and welcomed into God’s kingdom for the ways they served Jesus, and they respond that they’ve never Jesus before, that they have no idea who he is. He tells them that whatever love and care they have shown for anyone, they’ve given that love and care for him. In Jesus’ kingdom, we serve Jesus by loving one another.

“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.” Jesus’ kingdom isn’t dependent upon territory or anything that can be taken by force or destroyed. Jesus’ kingship cannot be destroyed because Jesus’ kingship is over all of creation, and his kingdom dwells within us.

We don’t always see Jesus’ kingdom. We don’t always live Jesus’ kingdom. It breaks in here and there, now and then, and we see and live in the love and Spirit of Jesus’ kingdom for a time. Eventually, Jesus’ kingdom will exist fully, everywhere, in every heart, as eventually, Jesus will wipe every tear from every eye, all violence and anger will be ended, and even death will be destroyed. We will all live fully in the life and love of Jesus’ kingdom.

Until that time, we get glimpses here and there, now and then, and we strive to live the love and peace of Jesus’ kingdom.

As followers of Jesus, that’s the idea and the ideal. We’ll all be peaceful, harming no others, fighting in no wars. That would be lovely, and Jesus knows that’s not going to happen until the end of the ages. Our nations will continue to fight one another for territory and security. We’ll continue to hurt one another and fight one another over territory and security.

That’s not what Jesus wants for us, but that’s what’s going to keep happening. Jesus knows that these wars, big and small, are going to continue. Even as we live at times in those glimpses of Jesus kingdom, we also still live in the kingdoms of the world, and sometimes, some of us will even be called to fight our nation’s wars. That’s the way of the world. It’s important to remember, however, that in all of these wars, big or small, whatever the cause, Jesus is not the one we’re fighting for, and Jesus is not the one asking us to fight.

That’s not what Jesus’ kingdom is like, asking us to fight and kill for him. Rather, as king of all the world, Jesus rules by giving us forgiveness for all of the wars we continue to fight. Rather than banish us from his kingdom when we end up fighting for the kingdoms of this world, Jesus seeks us out to bring us safely back home to his kingdom of love and peace. Unlike the kings of this world, Jesus doesn’t ask his followers to fight and die for him. Rather than send other people to die for his cause, Jesus chose to die himself for our cause: the cause of love, of unity with God and unity with each other. That’s the kind of king I can follow.

Trust: Judgement and Mercy Given Out of Love

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
November 26, 2023
Proper 29 (Christ the King), Year A
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 95:1-7a
Matthew 25:31-46

Trust: Judgement and Mercy Given Out of Love

When my kids were too young to talk very much or reason much at all, I would give them medicine when they were sick. They might ask what it was for, I’d tell them it was to help them feel better from their cold. They’d basically say, “Ok, Daddy,” and they’d drink whatever medicine it was. It occurs to me, that’s a good amount of trust. They didn’t know what it was; they didn’t know what it did. I said it was to help them out, and so they took it. They trusted their dad.

They’re older now, and they can definitely talk and reason things out. For the most part, I can explain why advice I may give is a pretty darn good thing to follow, and they can understand why they would, or in some cases, wouldn’t follow that advice. Even now, however, there are still sometimes when they wonder why, and the answer is, “I really can’t explain it all. You kinda just gotta trust me.”

We can look at the Gospel in a similar way. Sometimes we really understand the ways of God and what Jesus is teaching us. Other times, we don’t really understand it all, and we kinda just gotta trust God. Today’s passage on the judgement of the nations is one of those passages where, rather than figure it all out, we kinda just gotta trust God. Here’s why.

In the story Jesus tells, at the end of time, all of the people of the earth will be gathered before God, and Jesus will separate them out into sheep and goats. The goats will be sent to eternal fire. The sheep will be welcomed into God’s kingdom. The determining factor in these two outcomes is how we treat one another here on earth. This is pretty clear throughout scripture, that God judges us based on how we treat one another. As we heard God say in our Ezekiel reading,

I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

So, from these passages, we can see several important truths:

We are all, at some point, going to die. The world will, one day, end. How we live our lives is vitally important. We are all immeasurably loved by God. We are all loved by others. How we treat one another matters greatly in this life, and how we treat one another determines how we will be judged by God.

Are we harming one another? Are we caring for one another? Do we push with flank and shoulder and assert our will over others? If so, God has promised judgement upon us. Do we care about people other than ourselves? Do we help one another out when we’re in need? If not, God has promised judgement upon us. If we’re going to take our faith seriously, then we need to take seriously God’s judgement for how we treat one another. After all, God takes it seriously, seriously enough to endure the hardships we place on one another.

“Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:23-24) Jesus is the one sitting on the judgement seat, separating us into sheep and goats, and Jesus is also present in our lives, receiving the blessings we give one another and receiving the hurt and harm we give one another. So, how we treat one another matters greatly.

At the same time, God became human and died on a cross for our sins, giving us grace and forgiveness for all of the ways we harm one another.

Those seem kind of in conflict, don’t they? God gives us grace and forgiveness for all of the ways we harm one another, and how we treat one another determines how we will be judged by God.

We could try to put a bow around this conflict, explain the seeming contradictions away to make it all work out very nicely. Many churches and preachers have done this over the centuries. We’ve got all kinds of ways of fixing or relieving the tension between God’s judgement of us based on our actions and God’s forgiveness and grace. The problem is that when we explain this in ways that remove the tension, we tend not to take the whole story seriously.

We end up talking about grace only. Because you believe in Jesus, you have grace, and any terrible things you’ve done to others are forgiven. That’s not the story Jesus told in our gospel today.

So, then others end up talking about judgement only, constantly threatening people with fire and torment to get them to believe in Jesus or change something about their lives. That’s what I call grace for us and judgement for others. You’re going to be judged because you live life in a particular way (usually because of one or two particular things that I find icky). That places us in God’s judgement seat.

In a way, so does the grace only side. You don’t have to worry about judgement because you believe in Jesus. That judgement isn’t ours to give. That judgement seat isn’t ours to occupy.

Grace for all. Judgement for all. Grace for believers, judgement for everyone else. All of these are nice and tidy with bows around them. None of these take Jesus’ gospel seriously.

If we take Jesus’ gospel seriously, then we realize that all of the ways we try to get God’s judgement and grace to fit together nicely is ultimately a selfish endeavor. God’s desire is not just that we selfishly try to avoid punishment by treating each other just well enough to make the cut, caring about others only out of self-preservation.

No, God’s desire is that we actually learn to love one another. How we treat one another matters, and what did Jesus tell his disciples? What was his last commandment to them. “Love one another.” Love cares about the other person. Love does not place me in God’s judgement seat saying, “You aren’t treating others well so I’m going to treat you badly.” Love does not impose my will over others, forcing them to do what I want, good or bad. Love actually cares about the other.

Love takes God’s judgement seriously by believing in the absolute belovedness of every human being. Love also takes God’s grace and forgiveness seriously because of how often we can’t or don’t know how to love others well.

Love doesn’t need a bow around God’s grace and judgement because love trusts.

Look at Jesus’ judgement. It is judgement made out of love, love which sorrows at the ways we harm one another. God’s love can’t abide the ways we hate one another. Gods’ love can’t abide the ways we tear each other down, cause each other’s pain, ignore each other’s pain. Love desires that we love one another. Love says how we treat one another matters. I can trust that.

Look at Jesus’ mercy and grace. It is mercy and grace given out of love, love which knows how hard it is to live our lives. God’s love is not just on a judgement seat far off, but with and within each one of us. God’s love understands how we hurt one another out of our own hurt and fear. God’s love has compassion and mercy on us because God sees that we are hurt and broken. I can trust that.

I can’t explain exactly how God’s judgement fits with God’s grace and forgiveness. Whenever I do, I end up with a selfish, fearful, judgy mess. This is one of those times where I can’t really explain it all. I just gotta trust.